To Share the Human's Pain
by Evil Azurill
Summary: A Houndoom tries to comfort his human in an effort to repay her for taking him in long ago.


My human cries.

She has been crying all afternoon. She did not even look at me when she called me out of the pokeball to feed me, and I have had free roam of her apartment ever since then. She has been in her room.

I wonder which of the other humans said something to her today to make her so upset. I wonder what it was.

I walk down the tiny hallway and stand at the entrance to the bedroom. My Ria has been crying a lot, lately. I listen to her quiet sobs. She has not noticed me.

Being careful not to make any loud noises, because humans seem to hate that when they are already upset, I approach my girl's bedside. I touch my nose to her bare arm and rest my chin on the mattress. Of course she raises her head immediately; despite my being a fire type pokemon, my nose is still as cold and wet as any canine. Her eyes meet mine, only inches away…they are tired and moist.

" Houndoom." She speaks just above a whisper. " I'm so sorry I left you out."

I would not have complained even if I could speak the human language. I never appreciated the pokeball, even though it is convenient when my human works. I would much rather roam free.

I climb up onto the bed and step carefully over my Ria, laying down next to her. She turns to face me and tries to force a smile while she wipes the tears from her face.

My front paws crossed, I curl and uncurl my tail as I watch my human.

" You can stay out if you want, then."

She reaches out to stroke my neck and I rest my head on the down pillow. My human has the most comfortable bedding.

I lay with her for a few minutes, and as I do I finally know why my human cries. I can tell from her touch, her tone, her expression.

My Ria is lonely.

I close my eyes and I can feel the human's pain. It is a hurt that I, an oft-shunned Houndoom, am all too familiar with. I had lived solitarily in the wild for most of my life. One day the men in the dark clothes captured me and brought me to the " Team Rocket". No human ever laid a kind hand on me until the day my Ria took me from their laboratory.

I was overwhelmed with the same hurt that my trainer is suffering through now.

She seems to be lost in her thoughts again as she smooths my ebony fur. Months ago, I would have never imagined that my heart would hurt for any human. But this human, my human…her pain is now my pain, just as when she found me and made my hurts her own until we made them go away together.

I want at least to make her smile again.

I lean over to lick her cheek, getting her attention again. It tastes of salt and sadness.

My Ria is not as alone as she thinks she is. I want her to see that.

She sniffles at first and I know the tears will come again. She wraps her little human arms around my neck and makes a pitiful noise. I lay my head down again and I let her do it. She holds me and she cries on me, and I lay there pretending to absorb her pain. I am like the tool the humans use to soak up water.

My Ria has always been kind to me, but her kindness seems to be limited to pokemon alone. I know that other humans have never treated my girl with much kindness, and in return she has been most awful to other humans. I know that is why she joined the "Team Rocket". My human is very good at lying to the other humans in order to get what she wants. I have also seen her kill humans if the humans in charge of the "Team Rocket" tell her to do so.

The "Team Rocket" is full of humans just like mine. All the humans who have been hurt in some way, lied to, abandoned, tricked, taken advantage of or even hurt in a physical way work together to get back at the human society that has done them wrong.

I am Ria's partner. Therefore I will help her do this, and I see nothing wrong with that. If one causes pain to another, it is only fair that they receive that same pain.

She is holding me tighter now and crying more fervently. I wish now that I could speak the human language. I wish she knew that I can feel her hurt, and I will bear it until it is gone.

To my knowledge my human has no family. She has no mate to shelter and protect her. I've seen my human put up a ridiculous front for those she calls her friends, but her real troubles, these troubles that I am seeing now, are something that she would never allow them to see.

" You're a good dog." She mutters. "…you're my good dog."

The crying seems to have almost stopped now.

It's alright, my human girl.

I will be the protector. I will be the family when you have nowhere to go. I will be the understander of anger, the sympathizer of sorrow, keeper of secrets and the friend you need to chase away the loneliness that you feel tonight.

I am here.

Disclaimer: Houndoom, Team Rocket, and anything associated with pokemon is © Nintendo and the people who created pokemon. The character of Ria, however, is © Evil Azurill.


End file.
